The same placeIt’s become a regular stopTo sit and stare at the riverAt its widest. You sitAnd I find the little pathDown to the waters edge. The river at my backBrambles in frontI squeeze throughA treasure pathA secretThat leads to warm sweet bounty. Black blue clustersOf sun baked sugarFall off their thorny homesInto my palm tattooed with their blood. A feathered sacrifice Lays bare below. How such a bird met its fateI wonderBut will never knowAnd how it’s bare bonesEnded up to rest in this spotIs an equal mystery. But the berry bounty above her corpseIs twice as largeAnd twice as sweetAs those along the rest of the banks.

With double palms full of sweet, dark gifts. I return to you. And one by one we eat each one. Feeling sun and darkness on our tongues. A berry has never been more appreciatedThan those we take into us. And I can’t help but thinkThe cost, the end of that noble fowlWho’s bones touch the vinesIt’s death sweetens the life above.